Harry shifted tiredly as he became aware of a crying coming from the end of their bed. When he felt the bed shift he looked to the side to see Tom tugging himself from the bed, his bare, pale chest standing out against the dark black of his sleep trousers. He watched as Tom stumbled to the cot sitting at the end of their bed, gently reaching down and easing their crying son from his blankets. Harry smiled as he watched the small limbs kicking and hitting out in displeasure even as the hungry cries filled the room.
His heart warmed and a gave a throb as he was able to catch the expression on Tom's face as he smiled down at their baby son, the smile on his face still holding the same trace of disbelief whenever he saw him even though it had already been a week since the birth. His red eyes barely left their son's face as he bent down to take the bottle that Missy popped in with, moving to sit in the armchair they had had set up beside the fireplace. At the minute Tom was doing the majority of the night-time feeds considering Harry was still tired from the birth, his magic rejuvenating at what Burns assured them was an impressive speed for a male birth, but still taking its time.
As quietly as he could Harry moved his head so that he could see his lover and their son where they were seated, the sounds of eager suckling already coming from in front of the fireplace, the cries ended as soon as Tom brushed the nipple of the bottle over tiny lips. Their son was a good baby really, he only cried when he was hungry or when he needed changing, it had worried Harry for the first five days, making him constantly reach out to check that his baby was ok, only to find him lying quite happily.
Tom was smiling down and humming softly as he watched their son feeding making Harry smile as he snuggled the covers a little higher over himself. Seeing the movement out the corner of his eye Tom looked up to find green eyes open and watching him with an expression that made his breath catch. No one had ever looked at him with such pure love and happiness in his entire life, he had seen admiration and undying loyalty and he had thought that he could be content with that and the flashes of friendship[p he sometimes saw. But seeing this, seeing Harry's tired smile for him, he did not know how he had lived without it, but he was certain that he could not live without it again.
Harry seeing that he had been caught smiled at Tom as he sat up and slipped from the bed with a small wince, still feeling tender and a little sore. Padding softly across their room he settled on the arm of the sofa and stroked one hand over their son's head before reaching up to stroke his thumb across Tom's cheek before leaning down for a gentle kiss.
"You're supposed to be resting," Tom said softly.
"I wanted to join my boys," Harry shrugged, wriggling a little so he could rest his head on Tom's shoulder, looking down at their tiny son feeding quite happily.
"I have not been a boy in a good while Harry," Tom snorted amused.
"Fine, I wanted to join my family," Harry beamed at the word, getting a responding smile from Tom.
"How are you feeling?" Tom asked concerned brushing his lips over Harry's temple.
"Alright, still a bit tender," Harry shrugged.
"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Tom asked.
"Just about," Harry snorted. "Though I think if it doesn't happen soon Draco is going to pass out from excitement," Harry laughed.
"Indeed, though I believe it may diminish our authority when we have to potentially wrestle Severus, Draco, Fenrir, Hermione, your Gryffindor collection and Lucius to maintain holding our son," Tom smiled.
"Rodolphus and Rabastan are still terrified to hold him in case they hurt him," Harry shook his head as he brushed his hand over his son's stomach.
"They'll get over it when the desire for them to be allowed to babysit as well over comes it. Time to wind him I think," Tom added as the suckling weakened. He handed the bottle to Harry who quickly checked how much had been drunk from it, happy to see most of it was gone.
"He has your appetite," Harry teased kissing Tom's lips as he rubbed the tiny back gently.
"And he sleeps like you," Tom smirked back.
"Mean," Harry pouted before being unable to stop himself from smiling at the massive burp that followed his words. "Now that, he gets from Ron!" Harry laughed.
"Your Weasley is even more protective of him than I expected," Tom admitted as he passed the small, warm body into Harry's arms as green eyes looked at him hopefully, though he made up for it by carefully pulling Harry from the arm of the chair into his lap and wrapped his arms around both his lover and their son.
Harry sighed contently as he settled his son on his chest and leant back into Tom, his hand softly patting his son's padded bottom soothingly. He closed his eyes as he breathed in deeply and inhaled the scent of new baby and talc, and of spice and cinnamon. Feeling the quick, sharp little breaths against his chest while the deep, steady ones behind him rhythmically lifted and dropped him.
"I love you," Tom whispered into his ear making his open his eyes and tilt his head to look at Tom questioningly, but with a smile. "I can't tell you that I love you?" He smiled brushing his nose against Harry's cheek getting the soft laughter he was looking for.
"You can say it as much as you like, I will never get fed up of hearing it. Just came out of nowhere," Harry shrugged.
"I'm sitting with my lover and our son in my arms, why would I not be thinking about how much I love you?" Tom chuckled.
"Well when you put it like that..." Harry grinned before leaning closer to press their lips together firmly. "I love you too,"
"Thank you for this," Tom breathed in deeply as he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Harry's.
"For loving you?" Harry asked slightly confused, tiredness not really helping his brain cells.
"For loving me, for giving me this, for giving me a chance and letting me know what love is. For giving me such a perfect son," Tom sighed smiling and opening his eyes to look down at the baby that was nearly fully asleep.
"You don't have to thank me. Tom we have given each other this, we both took this chance with each other and we've been rewarded with a family we did not expect," Harry smiled snuggling down into Tom's arms and resting his head on his shoulder again, Tom's arms tightening around Harry and their son.
"You are going to be an amazing consort, you are going to be perfect, strong, powerful, gorgeous standing at my side," Tom hummed happily.
"I'll be proud to be at your side," Harry said softly, smiling when Tom lifted his hand to press a kiss to the consort ring sitting on his finger.
"Come on bed," Tom sighed after they had sat or a good half an hour or so, the late night and sitting in the chair in front of the fire making it seem more intimate. He helped Harry to his feet, gently cupping his hips and following him to the cot where they placed their son on the soft mattress and made sure he was comfy. Harry kissed his fingers and pressed them to the tiny forehead before shuffling to bed as Tom copied his actions.
Harry smiled and held the covers up in welcome for Tom as he made his way to this side of the bed, the older man shuffling under the covers and then wriggling closer to Harry. Harry eagerly went with his lover's actions as he gave a small tug, rolling and shuffling until he was pressed back against Tom's front. Tom wrapped his arm tightly around Harry's waist and pressed his lips to the back of Harry's neck. Harry paused for a second before rolling over enough that he could press his lips to Tom's, his lover pausing only for a second before responding, shifting them so that Harry wasn't having too much pressure put on his body in a slightly strange angle. Hovering over Harry Tom pressed luxuriously decadent kisses to his consort's lips. Harry wasn't ready for anything more, but they just enjoyed exchanging kisses and holding each other close, Tom's fingers tracing gentle patterns over Harry's cheek and neck, Harry's fingers combing through Tom's hair in a way he knew he loved.
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Harry smiled as he walked into the room and paused in the doorway watching as Draco and Ron sat with his son on Ron's lap, the two of them cooing and talking to him, Draco maintaining a hold on the small hand in his grasp, his fingers brushing over what Harry knew to be silk soft skin.
Draco and Ron were both dressed in deep purple robes, the colour being one of the few that Draco had agreed would match both their colouring. He smiled a little wider when Fenrir walked into the room, walking over to Draco and stopping to give him a quick kiss on the lips, the blonde flushing but the shy smile on his face telling just how pleased with the action he was. Though it was quite amusing to watch Fenrir blushing himself as he stalked across the room to get himself a drink.
"You look stunning," Tom wrapped his arms around Harry rom behind chuckling when Harry startled, too busy watching the interactions to noticed his Dark Lord coming up behind him.
"You gave me a heart attack you..." Harry drew off, dropping his glare as he took in what Tom was wearing, the sleek cut crimson red robes making him look nothing short of completely and utterly dashingly gorgeous. "Wow,"
"I take it you approve?" Tom smirked turning Harry fully and pressing him against the wall just behind the door.
"Very much so!" Harry nodded, his eyes drinking Tom in. The Dark Lord smirked at him before leaning in to place drugging kisses to Harry's lips and drowned out all thoughts in Harry's mind that were not Tom and his body and hands against himself.
"Not to interrupt My Lords, but it is nearly time," Rodolphus cleared his throat pulling them back to the real world.
"Did you lose the toss up as to who would come and get us?" Harry teased the slightly nervous looking man who was currently being given what he saw as a furious glare, and what Harry saw as a pouty glare. Pushing off the wall he tugged his robes straight and attempted to fix his hair.
"You would think with so many Gryffindors in the house now one of them would be foolishly brave enough to have done it, and I know that Charles cheated," Rodolphus grumbled as they walked back into the room with the others.
"How can you cheat at rock, paper, scissors?" Charlie laughed, he face glowing as he stared down at the tiny baby in his arms who appeared to be trying to blow spit bubbles at his uncle. The grin had not left Charlie's face since the birth and Tom had the feeling it would not for a good long while yet, in fact the atmosphere in the entire manor was practically humming with joy. The manor was practically squeaking with cleanliness from the over eager happiness of the House Elves at the birth of the young master, the inner circle would have been floating or dancing around the manor if they had not been too dignified to do so, but they still gave the impression of it, and Tom had not seen so many smiles in his life. Harry's Gryffindor contingent were fairly bouncing with happiness, and he swore that he could see hearts appear in the youngest male Weasley's eyes every time he looked at the babe.
"There are going to be a few rough faces in this meeting," Lucius snickered as he edged closer to Severus who blushed and looked down at his feet before raising his head to smile shyly at the blonde man. Tom felt Harry squeezing his hand and when he looked down he saw that his young lover was grinning with happiness.
"His finger," Harry breathed into Tom's ear as he pretended to tug Tom's collar straight.
Tom glanced over again and saw the Malfoy bonding ring glittering on Severus's finger making him mentally snort, Lucius did not hang around waiting. But then he had been waiting a very long time for Severus, and Severus had been waiting even longer for Lucius, putting up with watching him marry, have a child and have to play happy families in public with that...harpy. It seemed magic had blessed with a second gift as two days after their son's birth the ritual had content itself with the punishment dealt on the traitors and had finally killed them. According to the House Elves it had taken a long time to clean the mess off the walls, which they had set to with such a vicious joy even Tom had shivered a little.
"Why?" Hermione asked Lucius confused as she automatically walked to stand beside Rabastan who smiled at her and offered his arm which she quickly took.
"They only stopped celebrating at about six o'clock this morning, no amount of sober up potions is going to help with that!" Rabastan snorted.
"What but....they have been partying since the birth!" Harry choked.
"It seems even I underestimated how pleased they were to have a Prince," Tom smirked pleased. His followers reaction truly did please him, how welcome his son was into this world after the beginning he had had assuaged the worry that had still filled his heart.
Harry slipped his hand into Tom's a squeezed it gently before he stepped forwards to take his son back, Charlie pouting at the loss of his cuddle time, but Harry just kissed his cheek and made his way back to Tom's side. He had barely made it to Tom's side when a deep gong went through the manor.
"Its time," Tom smiled at Harry wrapping his arm around Harry's waist and holding him tightly as he brushed a gentle finger down his son's forehead to the tip of his tiny nose. Hermione came over and gently laid the black thin fabric over her godson ensuring that all of him was hidden from view before she stepped back behind the two of them, Ron stepping next to her, Fenrir leading Draco to her other side with the younger man's hand in his own. Behind the four godparents Charlie, Lucius and Severus stepped, in front of Tom and Harry Rabastan and Rodolphus stepped to guide them in and guard them.
The group made their way through the doors into the meeting hall and out onto the dias, the amount of people gathered in the room, all craning their necks to get a better look at Harry, Tom and the baby they knew would not be uncovered until the end of the ceremony truly took Harry's breath away, and Tom arm tightened around his waist. He made no move to remove his arm and made no move to step in front of Harry making a very clear statement to those in the room.
None of the crowd made any noise, very much aware of the young babe in the room and not willing to startle the tiny prince with the loud noise of the cheering they no doubt wanted to make, however the bursts of light that erupted from the upturned wands were brighter than any fireworks display that Harry had ever seen in the muggle or the wizarding world.
Tom raised his free hand and everyone's attention was eagerly fixed onto him, Harry could practically seem them holding their breath as they watched their Lord, waiting to hear what he was to say.
"Loyal friends, you have gathered here today to be with us as we celebrate the birth of the Prince and direct Heir to three of the oldest houses in our world, Potter, Black and Slytherin. But more importantly, to welcome the life blessed beyond all the odds to myself and to Lord Harry. Our son has finally arrived and blessed our lives with happiness beyond expression," Tom's words carried around the hall and once again Harry was gifted with seeing his lover in his element, seeing the power that he possessed in his voice and words alone.
"First we have chosen four to watch over our son where we can not be, and to help guide him into becoming the great man his future promises. Hermione Granger, we trust to guide him in wisdom and to teach what true friendship is. Ronald Weasley we trust to guide him in what love and loyalty truly mean and courage to stand strong. Fenrir Greyback we trust to guide him in innate strength and to guard and protect those he cares about to the limits of his strength and to love fiercely. Draconis Maloy, we trust to guide him to honour and pride in where he comes from, to be loyal to those he cares about and to allow his strength to shine through even in the darkest of places," Harry spoke, a slight nervousness to his voice, but sure in his words and standing strong.
"I Hermione Granger pledge my loyalty, my love and my honour to my godson, I will guide him down the paths of life when he may stumble and will love him with the strength he deserves, I will be a pillar for him in times of trouble and I will be there to see his smiles and joy through life as he grows. This I do so swear," Hermione stepped forwards first, her wand tip resting over the fabric where her godson's head rested. Ron stepped forwards next repeating her words and actions, grinning happily as he stepped back to his place. Fenrir's expression was stern and serious as he repeated the words, but his eyes glittered and shone with happiness. Draco's grey eyes were a little shiny with tears as he met Harry's eyes and bowed his head before placing his wand tip gently to the baby and reciting the binding words, his voice though was steady and firm, his stance practically radiating pride.
"And now the final part of this night, and the reason you have gathered here especially. The naming of our son before you," Tom paused and kissed Harry's temple before turning back to the crowd with a proud smile that caught their breaths.
"We have decided on..."
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The Order stared slightly shocked and horrified at the scene the Headmaster was making, throwing and exploding everything in sight. The old man was practically frothing at the mouth as he shrieked in anger. And all of this right in the middle of the Ministry.
They looked around hugely embarrassed, and some members were even trying to edge away so that they could go back to the apparation points or at least make it to one of the floo places. Rita sliding up to them and proudly handing the Headmaster todays paper had not what they had been expecting when they had come to the Ministry to try and get a case made for allowing a slightly illegal blood spell to be cast to track Harry, planning on using the reasoning that he had clearly been imperioed or controled in some way. Though most of them where not entirely sure how exactly they would plead this argument when it was well known that Harry Potter was immune to pretty much any mind magic. However they had not had to suffer the embarrassment of such a weak argument, instead they were being humiliated by the Headmaster's hissy fit right in the middle of the atrium at the Ministry, Rita was standing to the side busily scribbling away while her camera man was snapping pictures at an almost inhuman rate.
"Arrest them!" The call had them all freezing including the Headmaster at the shout, and before any of them could do anything two dozen aurors were surrounding them.
"What do you think you are doing?! What right do you have to arrest me!" Dumbledore spat at Scrimgeour as he made his way towards them.
"Aside from the fact tat you just cast offensive charms inside the Ministry building, injuring several people as far as I can see. We are arresting you for the repeated and illegal use of abortion spells upon the person of Harry Potter, and the attempted murder of the still unnamed Baby Potter-Black Slytherin, or whatever combination his parents decide to use, and the blinding and actually bodily harm of the baby as caused by your spells. The rest of your 'Order' are being rounded up as we speak, we do so appreciate the majority of you coming down here together, it makes our jobs a little easier," Scrimgeour smirked.
"Well I wish to press charges again Hermione Granger for bodily and permanent harm against my person!" Dumbledore was clearly trying to pull himself together, and failing miserably.
"Miss Granger was acting within the self defence of her best friend and unborn godson, there was nothing illegal about the way in which she acted and most certainly nothing in which she would be found guilty of, there is absolutely no point in arresting her," Madame Bones sniffed as she stepped next to Scrimgeour and eyed Dumledore as though he was something she had scraped off her shoe.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, do you have anything to say about todays article?" Rita called as the aurors started to pull the Headmaster away, the old man protesting at the bindings they snapped into place around his wrists before he even realised what was happening.
"...."
"I don't we are allowed to print even half those words in a family paper," The camera man smirked as he carried on taking pictures as the cursing Headmaster being dragged away while Rita just laughed. The image of a tired but proud looking Harry Potter seated beside Tom, a tiny baby in the older man's arms, face not visible yet, that was promised would be coming soon along with the name of the baby. Harry was leaning into Tom's side and would every now and then look content between his son and lover, happiness and love radiating in his expression, and though Tom's features were stern and poised as ever, there was something in his eyes as he kept looking between his son and his lover that no one could mistake for anything but the complete and utter devotion he clearly felt to the two. The article accompanying the image of how proud they were of the youngest member of their family and the love they felt for him changed more than a few minds and hearts in a different direction to the path they had thought they would walk along. The image of the three settling in people's minds as the image of the new future of the wizarding world.
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"Berwin Hagan Slytherin Potter Black. Our son," Tom pulled away the now white and pure veil, filled with the love and honest intentions of Berwin's godparents and revealed to his followers their prince for the first time.
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Berwin - Blessing
Hagan - Strong defense